Oil Changes In between Services

[Matt_EClass]

Morning all, Just a quick question.......I do approx 2,000 miles a month (mainly motorway) and with my previous cars (all non Benz) I have changed the oil in between dealer or services done by garages. This would mean a complete change of the oil and a new filter, and all depending on the state of the air filter I may also change that as well.

Now, with the purchase of my new baby, 2001 W210 220 cdi, if I change the oil and the filter in between the last service (completed 2 weeks ago) and the next service is this going to upset the ASSYST service functionality as set by the car? Or do I no longer need to change the oil in between services because Merc engines are better built?

Your comments would be appreciated

Thanks

 

[jberks]

It's not so much that the engines are better, but the oil is. You should be running on fully synthetic low ash oil which is about as good as oil gets. Assyst monitors the oil quality and clenliness anyway and will bring the service forward if it's necessary but at 2k per month, you're being as easy on the oil as you can be (running warm at sensible revs). In truth thhe oil is good for far longer than the assyst will allow it to go, so IMO you would be wasting your time and money.
As far as assyst goes, what you would probably find is that you did an oil change with 6k on the assyst, then the assyst would compensate and reset to 10k. I used to get on average 1000 miles extra for every 1l I added on a top up.

 

[Blobcat]

As per jberks above I wouldn't personally bother with extra oil changes. One slight thing is that you don't need the latest low ash oil for your W210 it is only the latest Euro IV emission cars that need it.

 

[moosehead]

My wife does around 3-4K miles per year with her SLK and the service interval comes up every 2 years. In these circumstances is it advisable to change the oil every 12 months bearing in mind most of her trips are relatively short?

 

[hawk20]

Worth asking service dept what oil they put in on service. Probably Mobil 1. Loads of threads on different forums say do not need to change between services. New synthetics are so good. Merc do a lovely little Bag with velcro backing (sticks anywhere on the carpet in the boot) to hold a spare litre of Mobil 1. Should ideally top up with same oil they use on service.

 

[shaungriff]

i always give my vehicles extra oil & filters etc.. as they say oil & filters are cheaper than engines & turbos ! also manufacturers stretch out service intervals as a selling point to fleet buyers. if you read the small print in most cars service guide they always say except in the following adverse conditions then list things such as town driving , low mileage, high speed etc so as to cover them selves. i don't care how expensive the oil you put in .. if it has carbon/metalic filings in it then its no good.

 

[Hibbo]

Although modern oils are very good and durable, (Geroge I think posted a link to a study on them a few months ago) the fact remains that fresh oil is better than oil with Xk miles on it.

 

[Blobcat]

Although modern oils are very good and durable, (Geroge I think posted a link to a study on them a few months ago) the fact remains that fresh oil is better than oil with Xk miles on it.

I agree with that, however with the price of fully synthetic and the fact that my W210 E320CDI only had the ASSYST scheduled oil changes (between 14K & 18K miles) and never used any oil I wouldn't go for extra changes. Sprintn'Go had his tested when it was taken out (after 22/23K) and was still OK (Thread) . I always serviced early (Anywhere between 400 & 4000 Miles) but I don't see the point in changing perfectly good oil. How long are you intending to keep the car for? I am doing very similar miles and did ~110K miles in just over 4 yrs in my W210.

 

[jberks]

if it has carbon/metalic filings in it then its no good.

Agreed - but as I understand it, assyst detects this and will reduce your service intervals accordingly. It's quite sophisticated and I tend to trust it.

 

[Matt_EClass]

Hi Blobcat, I suppose at this stage I plan to keep the car for around 5-6 years (one of the reasons I bought a Benz was because I wanted something that could do the miles) I suppose the fact of reg oil changes has come from owning turbo pertrol cars when I was younger and changing the oil every 3,000 miles (I did less miles back then) and I didnt own a Merc! But I trust the advice given on this forum from the likes of Blobcat / Jberks and others, because youve all owned Mercs longer than I have, I'll see what happens.

Thanks to everyone who responded.

Regards

 

[hawk20]

Hi Blobcat, I suppose at this stage I plan to keep the car for around 5-6 years (one of the reasons I bought a Benz was because I wanted something that could do the miles) I suppose the fact of reg oil changes has come from owning turbo pertrol cars when I was younger and changing the oil every 3,000 miles (I did less miles back then) and I didnt own a Merc! But I trust the advice given on this forum from the likes of Blobcat / Jberks and others, because youve all owned Mercs longer than I have, I'll see what happens.

Thanks to everyone who responded.

Regards

Matt it is nothing to do with petrol v diesel nor even with owning a Mercedes instead of cheaper makes. It really is the new synthetic oils which go far greater distances before they lose their attributes.

 

[Hibbo]

Matt it is nothing to do with petrol v diesel nor even with owning a Mercedes instead of cheaper makes.

He wasn't arguing that Hawk, he was simply stating that in previous years when oils weren't as durable as they are now and he drove cars which were tough on the oil, he changed it frequently.

 

[hawk20]

I suppose the fact of reg oil changes has come from owning turbo pertrol cars when I was younger and changing the oil every 3,000 miles (I did less miles back then) and I didnt own a Merc! But I trust the advice given on this forum from the likes of Blobcat / Jberks and others, because youve all owned Mercs longer than I have, I'll see what happens.

Thanks to everyone who responded.

Regards

Well this is what was said Hibbo.

 

[jberks]

its true, early tdis were heavy on oil and it was worthwhile changing regularly. We used to do a change every 6k on our cavalier tdi taxi and it was last seen running fine (I don't think we changed so much as an injector!) after 240k . Those engines were heavy on oil, primarily because of the turbo. I think we're all agreed though, modern oils have caught up. Plus, we'd have never put £10l oil in the Cavi yet it seems perfectly reasonable to insist on it in the merc. Odd when you think about it.

 

[Wezzel]

I always do an oil change between services just because it is so cheap at my local tyre and exhaust centre.

The price varies as they very often have special offers but I usually pay between £24.95 & £39.95 for a "while-you-wait" oil and filter change using Mobile 1.

AFAIK most of the taxi drivers around here do it and at that price it's a no brainer.

 

[jberks]

I always do an oil change between services just because it is so cheap at my local tyre and exhaust centre.

The price varies as they very often have special offers but I usually pay between £24.95 & £39.95 for a "while-you-wait" oil and filter change using Mobile 1.

AFAIK most of the taxi drivers around here do it and at that price it's a no brainer.

I take your point, but if you're replacing mobil1 after 6 months and 6k, it really isn't worth doing. Chemically speaking it's virtually brand new and certainly providing no less protection than the stuff you're replacing it with. £30-£40 for a full Mobil1 change with filter is certainly very cheap (I can't buy the oil for that) but IMO Unnecessary work is still expensive at any price.
Plus, consider the environmental side of the argument....

 

[Wezzel]

Fair comment.

My service interval is usually about 14k miles. I generally get it serviced a little late anyway at about 15k and have an interim oil change at 7 - 8k miles.

I may be wasting money but then again I may not. Better to do it too soon than too late.

 

[eric242340]

Ive found the optimum with or without service assyst to be around 10.000 km. Why change oil in between, its a waste of money and does nothing extra to protect the engine. Not to mention the Enviromental effect.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

I change my oil myself every 10,000 - 15,000 miles, about once a year. Its a waste of money changing it any sooner if you're using fully synthetic, its good stuff.

I'm on 182,000 miles, the service schedule reflects oil changes of the period above, and the engine doesn't burn a drop of oil - I'm serious, I never have to top it up - and I don't hang around.

 

[Hibbo]

I think it was Dava who posted recently about how his lot hammer their CDI Sprinters 24/7, he said they service them way more than recommended, but get 400k+ from them with no real engine probs.

Again, maybe not necessary, but certainly won't do any harm.